Friday 1st December 1916

Front line trenches near Zouave Wood (I.18.a.5.7. to I.18.c.4.7)

A quiet day in misty conditions which made observation difficult. Work on trenches and wire continued.

Pte. William Naylor (see 17^th October) was admitted to 69^th Field Ambulance having suffered a sprained ankle. He would be treated for ten days before being discharged to duty on 11^th December.

Pte. Fred Rigg (see 17^th July) was posted back to England for medical treatment having suffered severe burns to his right hand in an accident; the precise circumstances under which he had been injured are unknown. Once arrived in England he would be admitted to Wharncliffe War Hospital in Sheffield.

L.Sgt. John William Dickinson (see 6^th October) departed for England on one weeks’ leave.

L.Cpl. Walter Maynard Willis (see 16^th September) and Pte. Cecil Stanley Pitblado (see 2^nd September), who had been on temporary attachment to 83^rd Training Reserve Battalion, based at Gateshead, now re-joined 3DWR at North Shields.

Pte. Joseph Harry Poole (see 29^th September) who had been formally discharged from the army two months earlier was awarded the Silver War Badge on account of his having been discharged on grounds of illness. 

L.Cpl. Sam Benjamin Farrant (see 24^th September), serving with 2^nd Battalion East Lancs. wrote up his will in his paybook, leaving all of his effects to his mother. He would later be commissioned and serve with 10DWR.  

A payment of £3 12s. 4d. was authorised, being the amount outstanding in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Algie Clarkson (see 11^th September 1915), who had been killed in action on 10^th July; the payment would go to his widow, Mary.

The weekly edition of the Craven Herald carried two reports concerning men from 10^th Battalion:

SKIPTON SOLDIER WOUNDED

Mr. and Mrs. T.T. Chapman, of 51, Gargrave Road, Skipton, have received word that their son, Pte. Arthur Chapman (see 20^th November), of the 10th West Riding Regiment, has been wounded in the right leg by a German bomb, and is now progressing favourably in a Clearing Station in France. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman have received a letter from Lance-Corporal J. Hudson (see 20^th November), of the same regiment, stating that there was no need for alarm. He had spoken to the stretcher-bearer who had dressed their son's wounds, who stated that it was a "splendid Blighty."

EARBY - DEATH OF MRS. GAUNT

The death took place on Tuesday night at her residence, “The Willows”, of Mrs. Mary Ann Gaunt at the age of 65 years after a brief illness. The deceased lady was a native of the village, being a daughter of the late Wm. Edmondson of the White Lion Inn, where Mrs. Gaunt was born. Her husband, who died over 20 years ago, formerly carried on the business of an auctioneer along with his uncle, the late Mr. John Hogg of Skipton. For a few years before his death he also was landlord of the “White Lion”, Mrs. Gaunt retiring from the business shortly afterwards. She leaves a family of three sons and two daughters. All three sons are in the Army, being amongst the first to volunteer. Two of them have been in France over eighteen months and another (Fred) has been wounded and is now in hospital in Edinburgh. Sergt. W.E. Gaunt (see 28^th November) only returned to France last Saturday after a week’s leave. The funeral takes place at Thornton Church tomorrow (Saturday).